Caucuses summary

That’s it from me after a very anti-climatic night in Des Moines. The Democratic presidential candidates and the media circus accompanying them are leaving Iowa with no sense of who won the first voting state in the nominating contest.

Here’s where things stand:

The Iowa Democratic party has not yet released any data from tonight’s caucuses, blaming the delay on “inconsistencies” and promising to release results later Tuesday.

The debacle intensified complaints that Iowa should not vote first, considering tonight’s issues and the state’s mostly white demographics.

Bernie Sanders and Pete Buttigieg delivered addresses to supporters that sounded oddly like victory speeches, as Joe Biden’s camp appeared to downplay expectations.

All of the top candidates pledged to continue their fight in the next voting state of New Hampshire, but it’s unclear whether they will change their tune once results are finally known.

One reporter described Iowa Democratic party chairman Troy Price’s voice on the press call as “deflated”, which is understandable considering the organization saw its worst nightmare unfold before its eyes tonight.

"Thank you and we will be in touch soon," Price said.

An understatement to say he sounded deflated. Since his election in 2017, it's been his sole mission to try to make a fairer, more transparent Iowa caucus that would also run seamlessly. Tonight was IDP's worst nightmare.

IDP says results will be released 'later today'

In a one-minute press call that consisted entirely of Iowa Democratic party chairman Troy Price reading a prepared statement, the IDP said caucus results would be released “later today” (as in Tuesday because it is now 1am CT).

Price reiterated that the delay was not the result of a “hack or intrusion” and that the IDP was verifying results with a “paper trail” and “back-up system”.

Then, without taking any questions from reporters, Price abruptly ended the call.

The chief strategist for Elizabeth Warren criticized the campaigns releasing internal numbers, as Pete Buttigeg and Joe Biden have, accusing the candidates of contributing to the “chaos and misinformation” surrounding the results.

Any campaign saying they won or putting out incomplete numbers is contributing to the chaos and misinformation

Meanwhile, Joe Biden’s campiagn manager has released this statement, which does not seem to voice as much confidence as Bernie Sanders and Pete Buttigieg espoused when they addressed their supporters tonight.

Greg Schultz said in the statement that the Biden campaign believed the former vice president would “emerge with the delegates we need” to capture the nomination and that the results would show a “tight race with bunched up candidates.”

Tonight was a great night for us. We are thrilled with our performance across the state. We believe we will emerge with the delegates we need to continue on our path to make Joe Biden the Democratic nominee. pic.twitter.com/xiHrYsRfmF

Multiple political reporters pointed out the discrepancies between Pete Buttigieg’s partial internal numbers and those from Bernie Sanders, underscoring the vital need for actual results from the Iowa Democratic Party.

Notable this is based on 40% of precincts in Iowa. Pete's team sent info based on 77% of precincts. https://t.co/RO3lFcUz0w

So, I’m curious what precincts they’re missing and then I’m curious what we are going to see from Sanders and what precincts they’ll be missing. It’s almost like it helps to have a neutral party counting the vote https://t.co/XbKI8Bb5oW